“The most impressive things on earth are ruins,” he said. “The four greatest structures ever built have now been reduced to a state of decay.” The Parthenon rising above the city of Athens is in ruins; the temple of Artemis in Ephesus is in ruins; the temple of Jerusalem is in ruins; the Colosseum in Rome may have been partially restored, but will never regain its former glory, for it, too, is in ruins. The splendor of the ancient world has decayed and disintegrated.
And as he speaks I ponder how we are drawn to ruins, how we are fascinated by these artifacts of what was once so beautiful, so splendid, so powerful a display of human power, opulence, and ingenuity.
Today we travel far and wide to visit the ruined remains of great buildings. No trip to Peru can ignore Machu Picchu, no trip to England can ignore Stonehenge, no trip to Cairo can ignore the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We stand and gaze and try to imagine what these buildings must have looked like in their prime. And like Percy Bysshe Shelley as he stood before the ruined remains of a statue of Ozymandias, we
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